Menu Planning

Today has been a nice low-key Mommy-Christopher day!  I had class on Monday and Wednesday this week, but since my classes don’t meet on Fridays, and since Monday is Labor Day, I don’t have class again until next Wednesday!  Hallelujah!  I am going to take it easy (sorta) and enjoy the break because I won’t get another long break until Thanksgiving.  I still have to watch a few lectures and do some homework, so I’m not completely off the hook! :)

I decided to try to make a Menu for the month of September.  I like – LOVE - organization and I try really hard to be organized, but I usually fail miserably.  :(  But, I decided that it would be a really good idea if I made out a menu plan to try to stick to – even if it’s just while I’m in school.  I really like the idea of this because (1) I don’t have to think about what to make for dinner, (2) I will have everything on hand to make the meal scheduled for that night, and (3) it will help save money by not going out to dinner.  A week or so ago I sat down and made a list of meals we liked, plus I threw in a few new ones from my Crock Pot cookbook.  I made myself a September calendar and assigned all the meals to certain nights for the month.  I made Mondays the “leftover/cereal/scrounge” night, because I won’t get home until 7:30 or 8:00 on Monday nights and I am probably not going to want to eat a big meal that late anyway.  I also left off a few nights that Stephen and I are going to be in BRANSON (!!!! so excited!) for our two year anniversary. I then made a list of all the ingredients we would need for the meals, went through my cabinets and marked off what I already had, then composed another list of what I would definitely need at the store.  I went to WalMart and spent… about 50 bucks. 

I nearly fell over when I realized I had spent FIFTY DOLLARS on an entire month’s worth of dinners.  There will be a few things that we will still have to buy, such as fresh veggies/fruits/herbs, but probably not more than 10 or 15 dollars worth.  So, I’m really excited about this and I hope that I’m able to keep with it because I think it will make my life easier and my checkbook happier.  I should note that I did not buy ANY type of protein because Stephen and I buy chicken in bulk and we have a ton of it right now.  (That’s pretty much all we eat.  In case you didn’t know, Stephen can’t eat beef (allergic) and he doesn’t eat pork, (he’s Adventist) so we eat a lot of chicken and turkey.)  I also have several pounds of turkey hamburger in the freezer, so I didn’t have to buy any of that either.  SO, I will probably spend more on our next month’s shopping trip.

On Wednesdays (the other day that I have classes) I tried to make the meal either something quick and easy or something that I can throw in the Crock Pot before I leave for class.  If it was something that is time-consuming or something that has to be grilled, I put it on a day that Stephen doesn’t work or gets off early.  I’m sure we will probably have to do some switching around, but I think it will work out pretty well for the most part.  This is also good for my Recipe Blog, which I updated yesterday, when I made my first meal of the month - Cheesy Jambalaya.  Check it out!

Right now I’m looking forward to having the next two days at home with my favorite boys!  Here’s a few pictures of them playing their favorite game – Stephen tells Christopher that he “better run!  Daddy’s goooonna GETCHA!”  then Christopher SQUEALS and starts running.  HIL-arious.  They do it over and over!

 
 

These two are from this morning.  And no, he did not wear his PJs all day, these pictures above are after he'd had a bath and it was close to bedtime, the pictures below are from this morning not long after he woke up.  :)